Detachable actuator



March 24,1959 DQAI. MEEKER ETYAL" 2,879,026

DETACHABLE ACTUATOR Original Filed Oct. 11, 1949 s Sheets-Sheet 1INVENTORS March 24, 1959 D. A. MEI-:Kh ETAL 2,879,026

DETACHABLE' ACTUATQR Original Filed Oct. '11. 1949 \W/ s Sheets-Sheet 2I05 INVENTOR I 25 92% M 80 ATToRNEYs ga March 24, 1959 v A. MEEKER ETALDETACHABLE ACTUATOR Original Filed Oct. 11, 1949 3 Shegts-Sheet 3 k/ V LHH U ymmlmm INVENTORS ATTORNEYS United States Patent DETACHABLE ACTUATORDavid A. Meeker and Russell C. Geiger, Troy, Ohio, as-

signors to The Hobart Manufacturing Company, Troy, Ohio, in corporationof Ohio Original application October 11, 1949, Serial No. 120,655,

now Patent No. 2,681,658, dated June 22, 1954. Diglzegsgnd thisapplication May 27, 1954, Serial No.

4 Claims. (Cl. 251-291) issued June 22, 1954. i

lnmachines of this character, the soiled dishes or other articles areplacedin a washing chamber and subjected to the action of washingsprays.The wash water is recirculated for a period of time sufficient to loosenand remove the food particles on the articles, such food particles'being'carried along with the wash fluid. While it is important toprovide for such fluid recirculation, it is undesirable to allow thefood particles themselves to be recirculated, particularly the largersized particles thereof. In accordance with the present invention,therefore, a simple and effective strainer construction is providedwhich is arranged to overlie a sump in the lower part of the chamberinto which the liquid drains, the strainer being such as to collect thefood particles on its surface while allowing the fluid with at most onlythe smaller particles entrained therewith to pass freely therethrough.

The strainer is formed with a recessed annular portion which extendsdownwardly forming an enclosing screen entirely surrounding andenclosing the drain outlet so that the food particles which collect uponthe screen surface are retained within the screen and are forced tocollect at the bottom of this recessed area immediately adjacent thedrain outlet. The'wash liquid meanwhile has been allowed to flow freelyinto the remainder of the sump lying outwardly of this screen chamber,and the pump which recirculates the wash fluid hasitsinlet in this outerarea so that itpicks up the fluid itself with only the smaller entrainedmaterials, but -with the larger sized particles beingeifectively removedtherefrom. The central recessed area of the strainer may have'a coarsescreen mounted above it to collect still larger food particles andprevent the flushing of such materials down the drain, but theseperforations are preferably of such size as to allow the passage ofpractically all particles of normal size. I

In the course of the washing operation, therefore, the food particlesare continuously withdrawn from the circulating fluid and "collected inthis inner screen chamber,

immediately above the drain opening. Thereafter, at the end of thewashing cycle, the operation of the pump is stopped and the drain outletis opened, providing for immediate flushing of the collected foodparticles down the drain. This provides a self-cleaning strainerassembly which contributes to the production of the dishes in a cleancondition, as well as greatly facilitating the maintenance of thedishwasher itself in a clean and sanitary condition.

Maintenance of sanitary conditions is further facilitated by reason ofthe fact that the, strainer assembly and the drain valve structure arereadily removable from the sump and may belifted directly pm of the sumpthrough the door opening. The wash arm lifts ofi'of'its support 1 inchamber 22. The lower rack 35 is mounted just above ice 'on the pumphousing, and following removal of these parts the pump housing itselfmay be directly removed exposing the pump impeller. In this way full andcomplete cleaning of all of the parts is greatly facilitated, thosewhich areremoved being readily cleaned outside the chamber and the pumpimpeller which remains being directly and readily accessible through thelarge door opening so that it may likewise be readily and easily kept ina thoroughly clean and sanitary condition.

It is accordingly the principal object of the invention to provide adishwasher of this character which is simple to operate, easy tomaintain in a clean and sanitary condition, and which is highlyadvantageous andsatisfactory m use.

Other objects .and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing description, the accompanying drawings and the appendedclaims.

In the drawingsr Fig. l is a side elevation of a dishwasher inaccordance with the invention for domestic use, with portions of thecabinet and other parts broken away to illustrate details of internalconstruction;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the dishwasher with the door opened andthe racks filled with dishes;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view looking at the bottom of thewashing chamber through the opened door;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view on a larger scale taken in vertical centralsection through the strainer and pump assembly and the drain outlet andshowing the drain outlet closed;

Fig- 5 is a fragmentary exploded view of the parts shown in Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view taken as indicated by the line 66 in Fig. 1and showing the front of the pump housing with a portion thereof brokenaway to expose the impeller;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the drain outlet opened;

Fig. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary section on the line 88 of Fig. 7; and

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary section on the line 9-9 of Fig. 8.

Referring to the drawings, which illustrate a preferred embodiment ofthe invention, the dishwasher includes an outer cabinet shell 15provided with a supporting base 16 and a top 17 having a splasher back18 preferably formed integral therewith. An inner shell or casing 20encloses the washing chamber 22 for receiving the dishes to be washed,and a lower shell or casing 23 forms a sump portion 24 of the chamber 22which is provided with a drain outlet assembly indicated generally at25. Access to the dish chamber 22 for loading and unloading dishes isprovided through a door 26 at the front of the cabinet hinged on ahorizontal axis as shown in Fig. 2 and provided with ahandle 27 andspring counterbalance 28, and it will be notedthat shell 23 extendsupwardly above and outwardly of the lower end of the inner liner 29 ofdoor 26. The

starting switch handle and an indicator light are shown at 30 and 31,respectively, at the front of the cabinet, and a sequence timer controlhas a knob shown at 33 in Fig. 2, cross reference being made in thisconnection to our co-pending application, Serial No. 120,656, filedOctober 11, 1949.

Two separate and independent racks are shown for supporting the dishesand other articles to be washed the level of the door hinge line bymeans of rollers 36 carried by brackets 37 on the sides of the rack andriding on tracks 38 at the sides of inner shell 20. The upper rack 40 ismounted independently of rack 35 by means of inverted channel-shapedtracks 41 secured son-either side thereof'and'riding on rollers 42carried by the sides of the shell 20. As shown in Fig. 2, the lower rackis adapted to carry plates and cooking utensils, and it is also providedwith a basket portion 44 at the front for silverware. The upperrack isintended to receive glasses, cups and the like.

, The washing and rinsing fluid enters the washing chamber 22 at 45(Fig. l) by way of a suitable valve controlled conduit (not shown)operated by the timer to admit the desired amount of fluid. This fluidis then recirculated over the articles by means of a pump assembly inthe sump as shown in Figs. 4 and 5. The pump motor is provided with afront bracket 51 which extends into the sump from the rear through asuitable opening in the lower shell 23 and is clamped in position bymeans of a ring 52, gaskets 53 and bolts 54. An impeller 55 havingmultiple curved blades 56 is secured to the end of the motor shaft 57,and a packing 58 is provided along the motor shaft to prevent leakage.

A single casting 60 forms the housing for impeller 55 and includes afunnel-shaped lower portion providing an intake 61 from the sump to theimpeller. The upper end of the pump housing 60 forms a discharge outlet62 to a wash arm 64 of the reaction type having multiple discharge slots65. The wash arm is rotatably mounted by means of a bushing 66 on a stud67 set in an internal boss portion 68 of housing 60, and the lower endof the wash arm is flared at 69 to ride on the tapered upper end portionof housing 60 and provide a liquid tight seal. The housing 60 isremovably secured in position over the impeller by means of a pair ofbolts 70 extending forwardly from the bracket 51 and provided with wingnuts 71, a suitable gasket 72 being positioned between the rear edge ofthe housing and the front face of bracket 51.

The drain outlet unit 25 is shown in detail in Figs. 4 and 7 to 9. Itincludes a generally bowl shaped valve body 75 which is clamped to thebottom of shell 23 by means of a flanged collar 77 and gasket 78,locating pins 79 being provided to assure that the body will remain inproper angular position, and the lower end of the body is tapped forconnection to a drain tube 80. The drain valve is a collar force fittedon the lower end of the overflow tube 86 and provided with a rubberO-ring 87 adapted to seat on the tapered inner surface 88 of collar 77to close the drain.

The valve 85 is mounted for vertical movement to open and close thedrain. Referring to Figs. 7 to 9, the valve 85 includes a pair ofoppositely disposed arms 90 extending inwardly and downwardly to anintegral sleeve 91 forming a valve stem slidably mounted on a verticalpin 92 set in an internal boss portion 93 of the body 75, leaving openpassages 94 on either side of arms 90 for free drainage from theoverflow tube 86 to drain tube 80 when valve 85 is in closed position.The sleeve 91 is provided on opposite sides with flats 95 havingshoulders 96 at their lower ends and a circumferential shoulder 97 abovethem, and the lower end of sleeve 91 is tapered at 99 on its other pairof opposite sides.

A lever rod 100 is mounted for pivotal movement in a flexible mountingcomprising a ring 101 set in a peripheral groove on the rod to form anenlargement thereon which is held between a pair of rubber washers 102in an open-ended cap 103 threaded on an extension portion104 of body 75,these washers thus sealing this part of the body against escape ofliquid while supporting the lever 100 for tilting movement. Tworesilient yoke arms 105 are riveted to the inner end of lever 100 andare adapted to be received in the flats 95 between the shoulders 96 and97 as shown in Fig. 8. Thus when the lever 100 is in the position shownin Fig. 4, the yoke arms bear against the shoulders 96 and draw thesleeve 91 and valve 85 downwardly into drain closing position, and whenthe lever arm tilts to the position shown in Fig. 7, the yoke arms bearagainst the shoulder 97 and lift the sleeve 91 and valve 85 to open thedrain, the overflow tube 86 being raised and lowered with valve 85. Itwill also be noted that the shoulders 96 and 97 are rounded to permityoke arms 105 to rock smoothly over them during movement of the valve85.

A spring normally biases the lever 100 to valve opening position. Asshown in Figs. 4 and 5, this spring is generally U-shaped as viewed fromabove, and it includes coiled portions 111 mounted on cylindrical bosses112 and with their ends received in apertured lugs 113 at either side ofvalve body 75. This arrangement thus provides a downward pull on themiddle part of the spring which seats on the lever 100 near its outerend. The lever 100 is moved in the opposite direction to valve closingposition by means of a solenoid 115 mounted in the front portion of thecabinet and having its plunger yieldably connected with the outer end oflever 100 through a spring 116. The solenoid is energized anddeenergized through the timer in proper relation with the washing andrinsing cycles to permit spring 110 to open the drain valve fordischarge of the washing and rinsing liquids as desired.

The strainer assembly is arranged to trap food particles from the dishesand prevent such particles from reaching the pump assembly. The main orupper unit of the strainer assembly comprises a centrally dished andgenerally square perforate upper section having rounded corners andadapted to seat in the complementary recessed portion 121 of the innershell 23 to separate the dish chamber 22 from the sump 24. This upperstrainer section 120 is so formed as to slope toward an opening 122 solocated as to be approximately concentric with the drain outlet of thesump. It is also formed adjacent one side with an opening 123 to receivethe upward portion 62 of the pump housing 60. A middle perforatestrainer section 124 is welded at its upper end in the opening 123 andis in turn welded in its lower end to a lower frustoconical perforatesection 125 which forms a funnel eX- tending at its lower end into thevalve collar 77. All of these strainer sections have relatively fineperforations for preventing the passage of food particles of such sizeas to be capable of clogging or otherwise interfering with the action ofthe impeller or the proper washing and rinsing operations, perforationsof the order of inch in diameter having been found satisfactory.

A separate inner strainer includes an upwardly extending central portion131 which forms a handle adapted to telescope over the upper end ofoverflow tube 86, and the lower portion of this which is provided with acurved outer rim 132 adapted to seat removably on the complementarycurved portion of the intermediate strainer section 124 and to form anannular trough. The strainer 130 is provided with a series of relativelylarge holes 133 in its lower portion and a similar ring of holes 134 inits handle portion 131 at approximately the level of the upper end ofthe overflow tube 86 when valve 85 is in closed position, satisfactoryresults having been obtained with the holes 133 and 134 approximatelyinch in diameter.

In operation, after the racks have been loaded with dishes in thedesired quantity and a suitable detergent placed in the washingcompartment, the machine is started by means of switch 30 to actuate thetimer, which first eflects closing of the drain valve and opening of the[ill valve to supply wash liquid through the inlet 45 to the level insump 24 of the top of the overflow tube 86. The timer then starts thepump motor 50 to drive the pump, and the liquid is drawn up into theintake passage 61 by impeller 55 and forced upwardly through outletpassage 62 and wash arm 64 for discharge through the slots 65. As thisaction continues, the liquid flows down into the sump through thestrainer unit for recirculation, carrying with it the food particlesremoved from the dishes, and with the upper strainer portion 120 concaveas shown, food particles washed from the dishes are carried down towardthe strainer funnel portion 125.

The food particles which are too large to pass through the perforationsof .the strainer assembly are retained upon the upper surface ofstrainer section 120 and follow the path of the fluid in movingdownwardly, passing throughthe larger perforations 133 of the strainer130 and into the lower section125, where they collectimlocated, thuseffectively segregating the food particles.

from the recirculating fluid. The strainer itself thus tends to beself-cleaning with the collected material being located immediatelyadjacent the drain outlet and in position where .it will be flushed outupon the opening thereof. If there are any unusually large sizedparticles which should not be allowed to flush out through the drain, orif an article of silverware should fall into the sump, it will be caughtupon the strainer 130 and can be removed by the operator at the end ofthe cycle, this being accomplished simply by the lifting out of thestrainer portion 130.

It will thus be seen that during the washing operation, any foodparticles present on the dishes are effectively removed and trapped forready disposal without being recirculated, the wash liquid beingstrained each time before it again reaches the intake 61 of the pump.Then after the washing cycle is completed and the wash liquiddischarged, similar rinsing operations follow as controlled by thetimer, the rinse water being repeatedly sprayed over the dishes and thenstrained before further recirculation. Thus not only is proper cleansingof the dishes assured, but also with solid particles disposed of asdescribed, the interior of the cabinet is maintained clean and sanitary.

The construction and arrangement of the strainer and pump units greatlyfacilitates maintenance of the dishwasher by making possible quick andeasy disassembly of these parts. Referring particularly to Fig. 5, thewash arm can be removed by simply lifting it off stud 67, and thestrainers 130 and 120 can be similarly lifted out. Next the overflowtube and drain valve can be removed by first twisting them through 90'to release the yoke arms 105 from between shoulders 96 and 97, afterwhich this unit can be lifted out as indicated in Fig. 5. The pumphousing 60 will then be fully accessible as shown in Fig. 6, and it canbe quickly removed by re leasing wing nuts 71 to expose the impeller 55.Direct and easy access is thus provided through the large door openingso that the cleaning and repair of the pump impeller are greatlyfacilitated while the other parts of the pump and the entire strainerassembly are directly removable.

Reassembly of these parts is equally simple by following the reversesequence of steps, and it will be noted that the tapered sides 99 on thedrain valve sleeve 91 guide the lower end of this sleeve between yokearms 105 until the shoulder 97 engages the upper edges of the yoke arms,after which the overflow tube 86 may again be twisted through 90 to lockflats 95 between the yoke arms. It will thus be seen that if any ofthese parts require inspection, cleaning or replacement, they can bequickly and easily removed from the interior of the cabinet through theopened door 26, without disconnecting any part of the mechanism orotherwise dismantling the dishwasher, thus assuring desired ease ofmaintenance.

While the form of apparatus herein described constitutes a preferredembodiment of the invention, it is to be understood that the inventionis not limited to this pre cise form of apparatus, and that changes maybe made therein without departing from the scope of the invention whichis defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. For use in a dishwasher of the character described including a casingforming a washing chamber and having a. sump provided with -a drainoutlet in the lower portion thereof and a drainrvalve controlling thedrain outlet, an overflow tube secured to the drain valve and extendingupwardly therefrom in the sump to form. a handle for rotating the valve,the combination of a stem depending from the drain valve, detachableoperating means comprising a pair of resilient yoke arms adapted forraising and lowering said stem,said .stem including portions onoppositesides thereof proportioned for a snap fit between said yoke arms to locksaid stem releasably to said yoke arms against both axial and rotationalmovement relative thereto, and additional portions of said stem locatedbetween said first named portions being of lesser radial dimensions toprovide for axial release of said stem from said yoke arms followingpartial rotation of said stem against the resiliency of said yoke arms.g 2. For use in a dishwasher of the character described including acasing forming a washing chamber and having a sump provided with a drainoutlet housing having an annular valve seat in the upper part thereofdefining the drain outlet from the sump and provided also with a drainvalve adapted to engage the annular seat to close the drain outlet, anoverflow tube secured to the drain valve and extending downwardlytherethrough for overflow drainage and upwardly therefrom to form ahandle accessible in the sump for rotating the valve, the com binationof a hollow stem depending from the drain valve, an operating lever formoving said stem to produce opening and closing movements of the valve,said lever having an enlargement thereof, a pair of rubber washersreceived on said lever on opposite sides of said enlargement supportingsaid lever for tilting movement only, means for supporting said washersin clamped relation about said enlargement providing a fixed pivot pointfor said lever, means connecting said stem to said operating lever, saidconnecting means including a pair of resilient yoke arms fitted aroundsaid stem and being releasable upon rotational movement of said stemwith respect to said lever.

3. For use in a dishwasher of the character described including a casingforming a washing chamber adapted to receive articles to be washed andhaving a sump provided with a drain outlet housing having an annularvalve seat in the upper part thereof defining the drain outlet from thesump and provided with a drain valve adapted to engage the annular seatto close the drain outlet and with means supporting the valve foropening and closing movement with respect to the seat, the combinationof a stem on the valve depending within the outlet housing, detachableoperating means for said stem comprising a pair of resilient yoke armssupported within the housing for upward and downward movement, said stemhaving portions thereon proportioned for a snap fit between said arms tolock said stem releasably against rotational movement with respect tosaid arms, said stem having shoulders thereon respectively above andbelow said first named portions for axially interlocking engagement withsaid arms to form an operating connection causing said opening andclosing movement of the valve in response to said movement of said arms,and said stem having relieved portions thereon in substantially spacedrelation with said shoulders to provide for disconnection of said stemfrom said operating means in response to rotation and upward movement ofsaid stem with respect to said arms.

4. For use in a dishwasher of the character described including a casingforming a washing chamber having a sump provided with a drain outlethousing having an annular valve seat in the upper part thereof definingthe drain outlet from the sump and provided with a drain valve adaptedto engage the annular seat to close the drain outlet, an overflow tubesecured to the valve and extending downwardly therethrough for overflowdrainage and upwardly therefrom to form a handle accessible 7 in thesump for rotating the valve, thecombination of a hollow stem dependingin fixed relation from the drain valve, a pin receivable in said stem,means for mounting said pin extending upwardly within said hollow stemfor cooperation therewith to support said stern for guided up and downmovement, a pair of resilient yoke arms supported within the housing forupward and downward movement, said stem having shoulders thereonrespectively above and below said first named portions for axiallyinterlocking engagement with said arms to form an operating connectioncausing said up and down movement of said stem in response to saidmovement of said arms, and said stem having relieved portions thereon insubstantially 90 spaced relation with said shoulders to provide fordisconnection of said stem from said arms in response to rotation andupward movement of said stem with respect to said arms.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

